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Join CGS Discovery Day at Sunderland

The next in the Contemporary Glass Society’s (CGS) Discovery Day series takes place at Sunderland University and the National Glass Centre this April.

‘Glass Experiences – A Vista of Views’ will feature presentations by four eminent glass makers, along with a tour of the University studios, an exploration of the exhibitions at the National Glass Centre, live glass demonstrations, hands-on experiences of glass artwork, networking and more. It takes place on Saturday 20 April 2024.

The four speakers are Helen Pailing, Jo Mitchell, Liz Waugh McManus and Zac Weinberg.

Helen Pailing’s talk is entitle ‘On Tenterhooks’. She creates sculpture and installations using salvaged and found materials. Reusing materials destined for landfill is her way to bring awareness to seemingly non-precious or redundant ‘waste’ material and to celebrate the value within all matter.

Jo Mitchell will discuss ‘My Inspiration in Glass’. Her work explores the metaphorical qualities of air and glass, often incorporating the human form, combining the use of waterjet cutting and kiln-forming to control the form of air entrapment within the internal space of glass.

Liz Waugh McManus’s talk is called ‘What an “Internet of Glass Things” Can Offer an Artist’. She is a multidisciplinary artist exploring the boundaries between analogue and digital making with an art practice that embraces sculpture, glass, puppetry, video and new media.

Zac Weinberg’s presentation will discuss ‘The Ornament of Functionality/The Functionality of Ornament’. His projects address object value systems with a concentration on utility and mobility, using glass and mixed media to formulate his creations.

As well as a great day out, this event gives attendees the chance to support the National Glass Centre in its fight to remain on its present site.

Venue: The Prospect Building, University of Sunderland, Sir Tom Cowie Campus at St Peter’s, St Peter’s Campus, St Peter’s Way, Sunderland SR6 0DD

 For more information and to book tickets click this link.

Image: Examples of work by the Discovery Day speakers.

Apply for QEST and Heritage Crafts Sustainability Awards

Following the inaugural award in 2023, the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) and Heritage Crafts Sustainability Award 2024 is open for applications.

The two organisations are partnering to highlight craftspeople in the UK who have gone above and beyond to become measurably more sustainable in their practice.

Glass artist Lulu Harrison, a 2023 QEST Johnnie Walker Scholar, won last year’s prize. She was recognised for her sustainable processes in incorporating waste from local fishing industries to create glass pieces.

“Being the first recipient of this award has been a real honour, with the award money going towards future projects, which wouldn’t have otherwise been possible,” she commented.

The award is aimed at those who have made a change to their materials or processes, or innovated in another way, to measurably reduce their impact on the environment within the last 12 months.

It recognises makers working with traditional craft skills or materials who have taken clear and effective steps to improve their environmental sustainability, as well as the long-term viability of their business.

Following its success in 2023, when the award attracted 66 nominations, this year’s prize will be split into two categories: Material Innovation and Improving Processes.

Each winner will receive £1,000 and will be recognised at a Winners’ Reception at the Vicar’s Hall, Windsor Castle, Berkshire, in November 2024.

Applications close on Friday 24 May at 5pm.

Find out more information here and apply via this link.

Image: Lulu Harrison, who won the first sustainability award in 2023.

Remembering Simon Alderson

A reflection on his life by Catherine Dunstan

Simon Alderson was a glass artist and teacher from Darlington, UK. He specialised in traditional painting techniques and glass fusing with powders, but he was highly skilled in many other methods of glass-working too. We sadly lost Simon on 19 January 2024, following a short and sudden illness.

I realise that first paragraph is quite formal. It’s so hard to know what to write, how to condense, how to encapsulate a life that was so magical and complex. I’ve spoken to many people in the glass community over the last few weeks who remember Simon, and each person has something new to share; a cheeky anecdote or praise for how he helped or sometimes transformed their relationship with glass. To anyone who didn’t have the chance to meet him, please know that he was a fantastic friend, artist and teacher, and that he was naughty, silly and generous in all conceivable ways. Losing him unexpectedly at the age of 36 has left an unimaginable hole in the lives of not only his family and friends, but in the lives of hundreds of students who were lucky enough to have had him as a teacher.

Simon first found glass at an evening course in Darlington. He fell in love with the medium instantly, and this joy led him to Sunderland University, where he developed his skills at the National Glass Centre. Shortly afterwards, he moved to Bristol, where he worked for a decade with Creative Glass Guild, initially as an order packer, but quickly becoming a lead teacher and supervisor. He was a generous and encouraging teacher with many returning students, with whom he maintained friendships.

As an artist he was led by a fascination with nature, particularly birds. He kept sketchbooks and often used his drawings as references in his making. He had a real skill in capturing not only the colour and beauty of birds, but their personalities. His work inspires joy in many, and he was able to become self-employed as an artist in 2021. He was always producing new work, quietly confident in his skills.

Simon and I worked together, and we shared a studio for many years. We would go straight from work to the studio, picking up a cheeky M&S meal deal and settling down to work in time for The Archers on the radio. He let me use his tools and his kiln, which meant I could learn and make work to sell, eventually enabling me to buy my own kiln. He would watch me make mistakes, frequently calling out, “Babe, what you doing?”. He just let me absorb knowledge in a way you can only do when you spend a lot of time with someone incredibly skilled.

I have never met anyone with a broader technical knowledge of glass fusing than Simon Alderson had, and he was so patient in letting me pick at that knowledge, from the day I met him to the week we lost him. I never would have been able to afford to purchase that knowledge. He was always someone I could trust to tell me when my work wasn’t good, or I wasn’t making enough effort. He was the only person in my life that I knew would tell me exactly what he thought about my work, while understanding exactly what he was looking at.

It feels incredibly important to keep talking about him, and figuring out how best to remember him is something I will hold as a continuing consideration. I already talk about him all the time when I teach, using his work as a reference, sometimes using glass he made, which has found its way into my own sample box at some point. His impact is so intrinsic to the way I make and the way I teach. I am a more playful artist because of him, and I am a calm and patient teacher because he was. I will find ways to keep his memory alive, and we will find ways to do this communally.

In recent years, Simon moved to York, where he was much closer to his family who he missed dearly, and where he enjoyed life with his partner Gareth. He was so happy. As much as he loved his years in Bristol, he was always dreaming of being fully self-employed as a glass artist, being closer to his family, and finding a really special person to share life with. He was able to achieve all of those things. He took such joy in everything he did; travelling, baking, gardening, building Lego, spending time with his family, partner and friends. He lived really well.

In his future, he could always imagine a big, sunny studio, with light flooding in from enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating his glass. There would be huge kilns, projects in progress on the bench, Einaudi playing in the background and a cup of tea in hand. I’m not religious, but that’s where I see him now. That’s where I hope he is.

By Catherine Dunstan

Simon’s family are raising money for a bird hide to be installed in his memory. Donations can be made via this link.

All of Simon’s work that was out at stockists has been recovered and will become available for purchase at some point, with a charity to be chosen by his family to receive the proceeds.

Image: Simon Alderson cutting glass in the studio.

Political influence: an interview with David Reekie

As he embarks on a solo exhibition of his glass sculptures and drawings in East Anglia (23 March-27 April 2024), renowned glass sculptor and educator David Reekie gives some insights into his work.

You have had a long and illustrious career in contemporary glass spanning over 50 years. What led you to start working with this material?

From 1967 to 1970 I was a student at Stourbridge College of Art. The course then was described as ‘Glass, Plastics and Light Transmission’. I wanted to study sculpture at the time and this seemed an interesting, multi-material course. It introduced me to the versatility of glass.

‘Failing to Act’ was created in 2022.

You specialise in quirky, kiln cast glass sculptures. Why do you favour this technique?

I have always like making three-dimensional forms and modelling and constructing are major elements of my work. Casting in glass is part of the process.

David uses his own lost wax process to create his captivating sculptures.

Drawing is an important part of your design process. Tell us more about your creative approach.

Sketch books and working out potential ideas on paper is the starting point. I then go on to more formal drawings, which give a good idea of what and how I am going to make the work.

David’s expressive drawing entitled ‘Different People’.

What message(s) do you want to convey through your art? 

My work has developed into social and political comment. Using the figure allows me to play with various narratives when working on a piece. I also use satire and dark comedy and a sense of theatre to allow the viewer to interpret the work as they wish.

The drawing of ‘Different People’ is similar to this finished glass piece, yet has subtle changes.

What is your favourite tool or piece of equipment and why?

My favourite piece of equipment is the electric kiln because, barring power cuts, I can sit back and let heat do its job.

Do you have a favourite piece you have made?

No – After 50-odd years there have been too many to choose from.

‘A Point of Detail’ was completed in August 2023.

Where do you show and sell your work?

Through galleries internationally. My upcoming solo exhibition, ‘The Abstract Figure in Glass’, is taking place at The Corn Hall in Diss, Norfolk, UK, soon and features both my glass work and drawings. Drawings are key to all my work; they are the beginning, where I have time to think and pull together emotions and frustrations about the complex world in which we live. My drawings are very rarely seen, and this show is a great opportunity to bring together my 2D expressions with 3D finished sculptures.

Drawing entitled ‘Something of a Relationship’.
The finished sculpture, ‘Something of a Relationship’, shows how David can achieve great emotion in his work through mastery of technique.

What advice would you give to someone starting out on a career in glass today?

Use your imagination, avoid preconception, develop your own sense of individuality, and do not allow technique to control your ideas and how you make them. Give yourself time to develop your work and ideas and build up an identity.

David’s drawings are rarely shown in exhibitions. This one is ‘Dialogue Drawing’.

Do you have a career highlight?

Yes – it was being awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts by Wolverhampton University.

Where is your practice heading next?

I will keep working on ideas and making work as long as body and mind allow me.

And finally…

I must add that having a partner in life who helps and encourages you to carry on is a bonus.

About the artist

David Reekie was born in Hackney, London. After studying at Stourbridge College of Art (1967-70), he moved to Birmingham College of Art Education (1972-73), he became Fellow in Glass at Lincolnshire and Humberside Arts from 1975-80. He was a founder member of British Artists in Glass (1976).

He was Lecturer in Glass at North Staffordshire Polytechnic (1976-86) and External Examiner in Glass for Middlesex Polytechnic (1988-91).

He has lectured, taught and exhibited internationally for many years and his work is in museums and collections around the world.

He holds an Honorary Doctor of Arts degree from Wolverhampton University.

Find out more about David Reekie and his work via his website: www.davidreekie.com

The exhibition ‘The Abstract Figure in Glass’  takes place at The Corn Hall, 10 St Nicholas Street, Diss, Norfolk IP22 4LB, from 23 March to 27 April 2024.

Main image: David Reekie’s ‘Triple Act’ (1996) measures 51cm high x 86cm wide x 40cm deep.

CGS members apply for Amanda Moriarty Prize 2024

Once again, Contemporary Glass Society (CGS) is pleased to announce the launch of this year’s Amanda Moriarty Prize. This will reward the winning CGS member with a five-day residency at Teign Valley Glass.

In 2017, Amanda Moriarty, a long-serving Board member and Honorary Treasurer of the CGS, passed away. To celebrate her enthusiasm and encouragement of glassmaking, CGS offers an annual prize in her memory.

For the 2024 prize, CGS is delighted to be working with Richard Glass and his team at Teign Valley Glass, who have generously donated a five-day residency in their studio. This will enable the winner to extend their practice with the assistance of this experienced team. The prize is open to all CGS members at all levels and at all stages of their careers. It presents a fantastic opportunity to step back, take time and explore your potential in a well-equipped studio, alongside established makers.

The aim will be to develop original ideas, progressing experiments through to the creation of a new piece of work or project. This can be made in hot glass, lampworking, cold shop or sand-blasting techniques, or a combination of them. Teign Valley Glass would like to retain a test piece from the residency for inclusion in their museum.

Teign Valley Glass is located in Bovey Tracey, Devon, UK, on the edge of Dartmoor, in a beautiful old pottery.  It provides extensive glass-working facilities within its hot shop and cold working shop, with the support of a dedicated team to foster individual creative growth and expertise.

As part of the prize, CGS will also pay £300 towards accommodation/travel during the residency.

Applications will be shortlisted to four. Shortlisted artists will be interviewed by Zoom by members of Teign Valley Glass and the CGS Board. The three unsuccessful shortlisted applicants will all be offered the opportunity of spending a day making their work at Teign Valley Glass.

Deadline for applications: 15 April 2024

The winner will be announced in early May 2024.

For more information and to apply, click here.

If you are not yet a member of CGS, why not join here to apply for this and future opportunities?

Read about the residency experience of the winner of the 2022 Amanda Moriarty Prize, Pratibha Mistry, here.

Image: Glassblowing at Teign Valley Glass.

Amanda Moriarty Prize: review of The Glass Hub Residency

Pratibha Mistry was the winner of the 2022 Contemporary Glass Society (CGS) Amanda Moriarty Prize, providing her with five days of glassmaking experience at The Glass Hub, based in Wiltshire, with tutors KT Yun and Helga Watkins-Baker. Now she has completed her residency, read on to find out about how this valuable training went.

(Left to right): Pratibha Mistry, KT Yun and Helga Watkins-Baker at The Glass Hub during Pratibha’s residency.

The Prize is awarded in memory of Amanda Moriarty, a long-serving CGS board member and Honorary Treasurer, who sadly passed away in 2017. It is a competition that enables one CGS member to achieve something unique and is available to established artists and up-and-coming makers, with the aim of promoting contemporary glass in the wider art world. The Prize enables one glass artist to fulfil a creative ambition or add to their technical skill set – a dream that would not be possible without this prize.

Pratibha Mistry is an MA graduate in Glass from UCA (Farnham), experienced in design making and with expertise in kiln-formed glass and cold working, focussing on biology-inspired installations.

This blown glass orb features iridised pate de verre intracellular structures.

She explained the background to the work she wanted to create at The Glass Hub: “Studying the mechanisms of mammalian disease at a molecular and intracellular level shaped my early scientific career. Revealing and probing these beautiful internal structures (mitochondria, golgi, nuclei, etc) left a lasting impression. To me they symbolise acceptance and resilience; we are all fundamentally made of the same stuff, we even accept when these constituents fail us and result in disease. I love to bring elements of these structures into my work and celebrate the unity we have with the natural world.”

Therefore, the residency focused on creating an experimental body of work to bring these microscopic structures to the forefront and relay the power of these organelles to transform life and contribute to human uniqueness.

“The residency allowed me the freedom to combine techniques such as pâte de verre, lampworking and casting with hot glass approaches,” Pratibha commented.

Enclosed, lampworked intracellular structures.

KT and Helga also benefitted from the experience, saying they looked forward to these residency days, as they gave them an opportunity to think outside of the box.

Here Pratibha describes her journey to create the new body of work, called ‘Orbs of Acceptance’:

 “On an icy January morning in 2023, I embarked on my first day at The Glass Hub. I received the warmest of welcomes! I was incredibly excited by this fantastic opportunity and we spent the first few hours drinking tea discussing ideas and how best to approach them. It was abundantly clear that both Helga and KT have a combined wealth of expertise and were open to innovative, experimental approaches.

“The Hub itself is a well equipped educational making place. By late morning I had started learning some basic lampworking skills with hard (borosilicate) and soft (Effetre and Glasma) glass stringers and rods. I soon learned how to control and exploit their properties.

Pate de verre cellular structures were applied to hot glass orbs.

“The afternoons were spent in the hot shop exploring methods to apply pre-made pâte de verre pieces onto hot little ‘orbs’ and blowing onto plaster models. The subsequent residency days continued in the same vein, combining pâte de verre structures, lampworked pieces and painting with stringers onto hot glass. Being an artist focused on kiln-based work,  it was insightful and valuable exploring these approaches.

“I also had the opportunity to cast cell-like structures and grow my coldworking skills. Who knew I’d enjoy the diamond saw so much! I made numerous pieces during the residency, each adding to my learning and allowing me to trial new, experimental colour combinations.

“Aside from the brilliance of The Glass Hub, both Helga and KT offered me the flexibility I needed to complete the residency, with plenty of reflection time between sessions. This really helped me get the best out of the residency and it also worked with the Hub’s busy workshop schedule and my busy life schedule.

“I am incredibly grateful for the growth opportunity both the CGS and The Glass Hub have afforded me. I feel I have developed a new confidence in my glass practice and I’m excited by the endless possibilities glass presents. It’s a phenomenal medium, supported by phenomenal people!”

KT and Helga added, “Pratibha was a joy to work with and really inspired us. The whole experience was an absolute pleasure. We wish Pratibha all the best in her next venture; her talents and creative style will always shine through.”;

CGS is grateful to The Glass Hub for kindly gifting the five glassmaking days in support of this prize. Anyone wishing to explore techniques in glass or interested in future residencies at the Glass Hub (subject to gaining funding) can find out more via www.theglasshub.co.uk

See more of Pratibha Mistry’s work via: www.pratibhamistryglass.co.uk

Main feature image: An organoid imprint created by Pratibha during her residency. All photos by the artist.

New exhibition opportunity for 2024 graduates

An exhibition opportunity for new graduates working in glass has been launched by the Contemporary Glass Society (CGS) in collaboration with the General Office Gallery in Stourbridge, UK.

The exhibition is entitled ‘Glass Beginnings: Graduates of 2024’ and will run from 17 August to 1 September 2024. The General Office Gallery is a partner venue of the International Festival of Glass 2024.

This joint project will feature between 10 and 15 graduates selected from all those graduating from a British or Irish accredited course or graduating from a British or Irish accredited MA or PhD course in 2024.

All graduates will be able to apply with work that comprises at least 50% glass. There will also be the chance to win a range of prizes (see list below).

The application process launches on 4 March 2024 via CuratorSpace.

Applications close on 6 May 2024.

It is anticipated that some past winners of the Glass Sellers’ and CGS Glass Prize will also be invited to exhibit alongside the successful graduates.

The exhibition is a wonderful opportunity for emerging glass artists to show their work before an international audience.

Exhibition events:
An opening Preview Evening from 7-9pm on Saturday 17 August 2024
A ‘Meet the Makers’ afternoon (Saturday 24 August 2024 from 2-4pm)
A Print Workshop (1 day) for up to 8 people.

Prizes:
Simon Bruntnell Photography: Half-day Masterclass
CGS:  Two years’ free membership
Blowfish Glass: Prize to be confirmed
British Glass Foundation: Display in Stourbridge Glass Museum for two years.

Judges:
Charles Hajdamach (independent glass historian), Susan Purser Hope (CGS), Pam Reekie (CGS), Bethany Wood (Blowfish Glass Studio) and Simon Meddings (General Office Gallery).

Established in 2018, General Office is an independent gallery housing artists’ studios and a hireable gallery and print room. The gallery delivers a programme of contemporary exhibitions and holds regular classes, workshops, talks and screenings.

General Office Gallery is at 12 Hagley Road, Stourbridge DY8 1PS, UK. Website: https://generaloffice.co.uk

The Exceptional Art of Glass online talk series

The Stained Glass Museum (SGM) is hosting a series of online talks (via Zoom) this Spring to coincide with The Glass Heart exhibition at Two Temple Place, London, for which it is a lending partner.

The show and talks celebrate the fascinating material of glass, its industrial heritage, the skills and ingenuity of contemporary glass artists, as well as its place in the built environment.

Tickets are £6.50/£5 Friends of SGM

The three talks are:

Wednesday 13 March, 7pm

A spotlight on our glass heritage with National Glass Centre, Sunderland, St Helen’s World of Glass and Stourbridge Glass Museum

Wednesday 20 March, 7pm

The Art of Glassblowing with Ayako Tani and Christopher Day

Wednesday 27 March, 7pm

Architectural Glass: The Supreme Art with Andrew Moor

Find out more and book tickets here.

Attend Stourbridge Glass Museum’s gala evening

Stourbridge Glass Museum (SGM) is celebrating the anniversary of its opening with a special Gala Evening on Friday 19 April 2024.

The event will include a VIP reception followed by an evening of presentations and live demonstrations showcasing the museum’s work. Speakers will include Graham Fisher MBE, glassmaker Chris Day and glass expert Dr Max Stewart.

In addition, Allister Malcolm and his team with be showing their skills at glassmaking and a Fire Poi performance.

A highlight of the evening will be a raffle/blind auction with the opportunity to win a unique work of glass specially made for the event by glassmaker and British Glass Foundation (BGF) Trustee Chris Day.

Tickets are £50, with all proceeds going to support SGM. Tickets include complimentary wine, beer and food alongside live glassmaking, fiery performances and engaging talks.

Time: 18:30 – 21:30.

BGF Chairman Graham Knowles says, ‘The Gala Evening is our celebration of what we have always felt to be the ‘People’s Museum’. This is the first in what we intend as an annual event that will celebrate both the area’s rich glassmaking history and its bright future’.

For details and booking visit: https://www.stourbridgeglassmuseum.org.uk and click on ‘Book Now’ to lead you to the Gala Evening booking page.

Stourbridge Glass Museum is at Stuart Works, High Street, Wordsley, DY8 4FB, UK.

Image: (top row left to right) Allister Malcolm, Graham Fisher and Chris Day will be participating in the Gala Evening. Bottom left image photographed by Simon Bruntnell.

New British Glass Biennale prize announced

A new student prize has been announced for the British Glass Biennale (for which the entry deadline has been extended to Sunday 3 March 2024 at midnight).

The new award is the Glass Lab Award 2024 that will go to a student showing technical skill and knowledge in the material.

The winner will receive:

  • 5 days of studio time at The Glass Foundry
  • One-to-one support from expert staff
  • £1,500 towards travel, accommodation and materials.

The Glass Lab is in its fifth year of running artist residences and scholarships at The Glass Foundry in Stroud. It was formed to promote collaboration, diversity and innovation in the field of glass. The Glass Lab exhibited the work of eight glass artists in residence for the first time at the 2022 Biennale.

Other awards:

British Glass Biennale Award for Best in Show The British Glass Biennale jury will select the winner of this award from all exhibitors selected for both the Main Section and Student Section. The winner will receive a £7,000 cash prize.

NEW: Bullseye Living Edge Award This award is for the best piece (or set) made exclusively of Bullseye glass. The winner will be selected by Bullseye Glass Ltd and receive £5,000 of Bullseye products (glass only) redeemable through Warm Glass UK.

Glass Sellers’ Main Award The Glass Sellers’ jury will select the winner and runner up of this award from all exhibitors selected for the Main Section, including previous winners of the Glass Sellers’ Student Award and the Glass Sellers’ Main Award runner up, but excluding winners of this award within the last five years.

Glass Sellers’ Student Award The Glass Sellers’ jury will select the winner and runner up of this award from exhibitors selected for the Student Section including previous runners-up of the Glass Sellers’ Student Award, but excluding previous winners of this award.

Arts and Crafts award Artisan winner £2,500
Arts and Crafts award Artisan runner up £1,000
Arts and Crafts award Student winner £1,000
Arts and Crafts award Student runner up £500

Note: Stained glass windows are specifically excluded from the Glass Sellers’ awards.

The Glass Art Society (GAS) International Artists’ Prize This $1,500 prize will be awarded by the Board of GAS and signifies international recognition of the winning artist by his/her professional peers.

NEW: Glass Painters and Glaziers Award This £1,000 award is for a piece of glass art that features the use of traditional or modern techniques that could include painting, staining, enamelling, leading, copper foiling, laminating or fusing in a broadly two-dimensional format. It is open to all artists including students.

People’s Prize This £750 prize is awarded for the artwork selected by public vote. Sponsored by Warm Glass.

Young Collectors’ Award This £250 prize is awarded for the artwork selected by children aged 16 and under. A specially commissioned piece of glass is also given to a child selected at random from the entries.

Glass Society Award – ‘CONNECTION’
Winner £2,500
Runner Up £1,000
You are free to interpret this theme any way you want.

Guild of Glass Engravers Award £1,000 for the best engraved piece.

Find out more details about the Biennale and link to apply for the exhibition via this link.